


Oh Great We're in the Apocalypse

by Rowan1925



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV), The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ben Paul survived fall, Borrowed other things from TellTale, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Multi, Must Read, Not biologically, Only character from TellTale, Pansexual Character, Rape/Non-con Elements, Rick has a younger brother, Teen Pregnancy, Trans Male Character, not telling who, teen dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23367538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rowan1925/pseuds/Rowan1925
Summary: Rick has a younger brother who is 16 years old when the Dead started walking. This is his story of survival.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon & Original Character(s), Original Male Character(s) & Original Character(s), Rick Grimes & Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 24





	1. You can’t go

**Author's Note:**

> Note: I am retelling some of the story of the Walking Dead, with my own OCs. I’m not going to completely rewrite it. At someone point it is going to deviate from the original story after the Prision.

Caleb Grimes sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time. 

“You can’t go.”

“Why not?” he asked. Caleb ran his fingers though his short, purple hair before putting his hat back on. 

“After last time, you really think that’s smart?” An older man with short black hair stated, looking down on him. It always pissed him off how he always seemed to look down on him, especially since he wasn’t that much shorter than the older man. Asshole. 

“Well Shane,” The teenager said with a southern drawl. “Since it doesn’t really matter what you think, it’s a moot point.” Caleb turned his before turning his back, walking towards his car. The man, Shane grabbed his arm. “Let go of me.”

“We’re not done talking.”

“We are definitely done.”

Caleb almost yelped in pain when his arm was yanked hard enough to turn him back around. “When you’re putting the group in danger with your stupidity, you should be staying your ass at camp Cay.”

But the group isn’t in danger when people aren’t pullin’ their weight? Caleb thought sarcastically. At that moment a growl could be heard. It was pretty loud. Caleb smiled at the German Shepard that was standing behind Shane, ready to pounce. “It’s alright girl,” he cooed. “Sit Charlie.”

The dog, Charlie sat on the ground waiting.

Caleb turned to the man. “Let go of me Shane, or I might not be able to control her.”

Shane glared at him but slowly did what the teenager said. “It’s not safe out there. Last time you put Glenn in danger with that stunt you pulled. Now you want to go out again?”

“Yes,” Caleb said. “I understand that you don’t agree with what I did, but I did what needed to be done. I scavenge out there with Glenn to help the group. I have been doing it since the beginning of this. Glenn is going to need all of the help he can get, especially if people like Andrea, and Jacqui, Morales and T-Dog, who have NOT even stepped in the city since this started, never actually handled Walkers, are going out there. If you’re so concerned, why don’t you volunteer to go out there and get some supplies?”

“You’re not going anywhere.” Shane stood closer. Caleb rolled his eyes. “Lori doesn’t want you to go and you should be with Carl and the other kids, especially considering you like bringing other mouths to feed.

“Well if my sister-in-law has such a problem, then she should have said something to me, not you. You’re not actually my family Shane. You’re not Lori’s family and you’re not Carl’s dad. You’re just my brother’s best friend. That’s it.” Caleb stomped away from Shane until he stopped suddenly. He turned around to face the older man. “Oh, and one more thing- if you call me Cay one more time, I’m gonna to break your face Shane Walsh.” 

Caleb whistled and Charlie walked over to him. Caleb kneeled ad started petting her. “Such a good girl,” he said. “I need you to stay at Camp okay? Stay with Lori, Carl and Hunter okay.”

Charlie panted and wagged her tail. Caleb has had her since he was 11-years old. She was such a good dog. She used to be part of the K9 unit of Atlanta PD, but she failed her tests needed to requalify. Caleb’s brother thought she would be good for him. He had been right.  
“Hey, you done kissin’ yer bitch?” A Southern voice drawled. A middle-aged man with a receding hairline smirked, spitting in some nearby grass. Caleb gave Charlie one last pat before walking towards the older man.

“Fuck you, Merle,” he said without any real bite in his words. Merle Dixon was the resident racist, sexist, drug addict, redneck that seemed to get on everyone’s nerves at camp. Caleb personally had no problem with the man. While he was a drug addict and could be very unpleasant, he helps by providing meat for the group by hunting with his brother, Daryl. Honestly, Caleb felt like most of the group should be more grateful that these men helped to keep them and their families fed. Merle was certainly more useful than some of the people in his camp and besides saying mean things, he never actually does anything to anyone. Besides, Charlie seems to like the Dixon brothers, and she was a great judge of character. “Maybe you should stay at Camp instead of me.”

“I ain’t stayin’ here,” the older man said.

“If you’re only coming to score some drugs, please don’t,” Caleb said calmly. “You’re putting yourself and everyone else in danger.”  
“Ain’t no one asked for your opinion,” Merle hissed. “‘Sides, yer better off with me than yer are with sugar tits, who don’t know how to handle that piece she’s holdin’. In fact, most of them don’t have any weapons on ‘em.”

Caleb almost groaned. As much as he hated to say it, the older man was right. Andrea didn’t know how to handle her gun. God, most of the people coming were useless in the fight. He sighed. “If you do get us killed, I’m going to make sure the Walkers get you first.”

The older man just laughed and turned back towards the vehicles. Caleb got into the closest car, his older pick-up truck and turned the keys in the ignition. In that moment, Glenn got into the passenger seat with a groan. “Remind me why are we going with a team this big again?”

“Because Shane decided that I couldn’t be trusted with just you out there.” Caleb sneered. Fuck that bullshit he said about a bigger group being able to carry more supplies, he thought grimly. “It’s punishment for bringing ‘another mouth to feed’ as he likes to call it.” Caleb turned the key in the ignition and started driving off to their location.

“Well if it’s any consolation, I’m glad you did it,” Glenn said. “It gave me some hope.”

Caleb relaxed. “That means a lot man. I am sorry about the risk I put you in.”

Glenn shrugged. “It wasn’t riskier than it usually is when we’re scavenging.”

Caleb smiled. “So, what’s the plan of attack for today?” Before Glenn started talking, Merle, Andrea, Jaqui sat in the backseats. T-Dog and Morales jumped into the cab. Caleb took a quick glance in the back to make sure no one (Merle) started anything.

“I think we should stick to that mall in Atlanta,” Glenn started. “We might be able to go from floor to floor. There is a Target in that place, so we may be able to get some over the counter medicine, some food, feminine hygiene products, new clothes. If we’re lucky, we will just be in and out.”

Caleb nodded. It was a sound plan. “We all stick together. No one goes off alone.” This will all be just fine. Nothing will go wrong if everyone does what they’re supposed to do. What could go wrong?

… So fucking much apparently.

“I ought to kill you!” Andrea yelled angrily, pointing her gun at someone’s face. Morales tried to calm the woman down, but it wasn’t working.

Caleb angrily pulled his own gun and put it at her head. “Put the gun away.”

Andrea turned her head towards him. Her blue eyes widened a little when she saw his gun trained on her. “This asshole brought Walkers on us.”

“I don’t care,” Caleb said coldly. “If you don’t get your gun out of my brother’s face, I’m going to kill you. I don’t even care if the sound attracts more Walkers.”

Andrea watched him defensively. Everyone else stood on the sidelines, shock and disbelief painted on their faces. Even Rick looked as if he was seeing him for the first time. After a few moments, Andrea holstered put her gun back into her holster. “We’re gonna die,” she said, close to tears.

Caleb quickly ran to his brother’s side and pulled him into a tight embrace. “I can’t believe that you’re really here.”

Arms wrapped around him just as tightly. “I’m so happy to see you Cay.” Rick’s arms held him at a distance to look at his face. “How are you? Are Lori and Carl alright?”

Caleb grinned. “They’re alright. They’re back at our camp.”

Rick looked a little confused. “Camp? But what the shelter that was supposed to be set up in Atlanta?” 

T-Dog stood near a clear display, trying to reach the camp with the radio. Everyone gathered around him, watching as he kept trying the radio. “Got no signal,” he said. “Maybe the roof-.”

Gunshots rang out.

“What the fuck?” Caleb said. Now what?

“Was that Dixon?” Andrea asked. Everyone ran up the stairs and to the roof. Merle Dixon was standing with a rifle in his hand, wasting the bullets on the walkers OUTSIDE of the building. 

“Dixon are you crazy?” Morales yelled. 

Merle turned around, smirk on his face. “Hey,” he said. “Ya’ ought a be more polite to a man with a gun. It’s only common sense.” Caleb wanted to punch him in his face when he jumped down from his perch. He was going to get everyone killed. He knew he should never have let Merle Dixon come.

“Dixon what are you doing?” T-Dog yelled. “You’re wasting bullets we don’t got and you bringing more of them on our ass.” 

“I already got this Tacobender on my ass all day,” Merle said to T-Dog, pointing all Morales. I ain’t takin’ orders from you. That’ll be the day.”

Caleb barely stopped himself from groaning. He already knew where this was going.

“That’ll be the day?” The black man walked briskly towards Dixon. “Got something you wanna say to me?”

Caleb needed to diffuse this quickly. “Hey T-Dog man you gotta relax-.”

“No, I wanna hear this.”

“This isn’t worth it,” Morales said.

“You wanna know the day?” Merle said, bellicosely.

Caleb walked closer to T-Dog so that he was right behind him.

“I’ll tell you the day ‘Mr. Yo,’” Merle said, mockingly making hand gestures. “The day I take orders from a nigger.”

T-Dog moved too fast for Caleb to get him. Before he could get a punch in, the redneck hit him in the face with the butt of the rifle.  
Rick tried to jump in and stop it, he got punched in the face. Andrea and Jacqui were yelling. T-Dog got back up and get kicked back down. Merle continued to beat him up, no matter how many times someone yelled at him to stop it. The whole thing was a circus. Caleb pulled out his gun and pointed it at the redneck.

“Merle stop,” Caleb yelled. “Stop or I’ll shoot.”

The man finally turned towards the teenager. The man’s smirk turned into a frown. “You ain’t gonna shoot,” the redneck stated.

“I will if I have to,” Caleb said, holding his Glock steady in his hand. “I will kill you.”

Merle looked at him for a long moment. No one else did anything. Suddenly, Merle pulled out his piece from his holster and put it in front of T-Dog’s face. “Put your gun down or I’ll shoot this nigger.”

Caleb slowly put his gun on the ground. Merle made a gesture with his gun and Caleb moved towards the others. 

Merle had a big grin on his face. At this point, he started going on about how he was going to be in charge from now on. Caleb barely paid him any mind. Just behind Merle, he noticed that Rick started to get back up, rubbing his jaw. Rick picked up the discarded rifle. 

“Now a show of hands,” Merle prompted. Almost everyone raised their hands. Caleb smiled when Jacqui raised her middle finger. “Guess  
that means I’m in charge now. Anyone got something to say?”

“Yeah.” Merle turned around and took a hit in the face. Everyone watched as Rick handcuffed him to a pipe. 

Once disaster seemed to be neutralized, Caleb went down to T-Dog’s level an pulled out a rag out of one of his pockets. “You okay man?” he asked. He handed the rag to the beaten man.

T-Dog nodded before he took the rag and wiped the blood around his mouth. Once he was sure that T was alright, he decided to look over into the street. They were royally screwed. The geeks were still banging on the doors. It was starting to attract more of them from blocks away. He felt a hand on his shoulder; Caleb turned to look at his older brother.

“You dropped this,” Rick said, holding out the gun. Caleb took it from him. “Now tell me about the shelter in Atlanta?”

“That’s a pipe dream, my friend.” Morales said, taking a step towards the two brothers. “So, you know each other?”

Caleb nodded. “This is my older brother.”

“Then maybe you can tell your brother here that the whole point of scavenging, is it be quiet and not noticed.”

“Yeah, yeehaw, your brother is a dumbass,” Glenn said. 

Caleb knew they had a point, but he wasn’t going to let people insult his brother. “He was in a coma when this all started. He didn’t know-.”

Rick put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine Cay,” he said. “Now we should be focused on getting out of here.”

From there, the group came up with a plan.


	2. Chapter 2: He Will Be Missed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is what it is

As he sat in the back of the truck, Caleb couldn’t help but think about a few things.

His brother, who he thought had died, was alive and just saved their asses.

His family was complete again.

Merle was left in Atlanta… handcuffed to a roof.

Stuck in the hot sun, with no way to protect himself from the sun. 

No food.

No water.

On top of a walker, infested building. Daryl was going to be pissed. Caleb could already feel a headache coming.   
The van came to a stop. Everyone that had been in the back of the vehicle had exited. Caleb felt skinny arms of his sister-in-law and his nephew. He sagged into his sister-in-law as she sobbed in relief. “I thought we lost you too.”

Caleb hugged them back. “I’m alright Lori. I’m not going anywhere.” Caleb looked around “Where is Hunter?”

“He’s sleeping in Dale’s RV,” Lori explained. “He was very fussy for a little bit, but we finally managed to get him to sleep a few hour ago. What happened in Atlanta Cay? We were really worried when he couldn’t get in contact with you on the radio.”

Before Caleb could answer, Morales mentioned that a newcomer had helped them out of the city. “He’s a cop like you,” he said to Shane. Rick got out of the van.

“DAD!” Carl ran and wrapped his arms around Rick. After a few moments, Lori wrapped her own arms on her shoulder. Caleb was comfortable just watching. He already had his reunion; they should have this for themselves. He felt a nudge at his knee. 

“Go ahead girl,” Caleb cooed. “I know you missed him too.”

That was all the German Shepard needed. Charlie barked and ran towards the Grimes family. She knocked Rick onto the ground and started licking his face with enthusiasm. A lot of the group members laughed and walked over to the newcomer to greet him. Caleb used the time to check in on Hunter. He noticed Dale standing in front of his RV, away from the commotion. “He’s just in there,” the old man said, pointing inside. 

“Thanks Dale,” Caleb said appreciatively. “I hope he wasn’t too bad.”

Dale shook his head. “He wasn’t any trouble at all,” the man said. “I think he just missed you.”

Caleb nodded and walked into the RV. In the back, on the bed, was a little 2-year-old boy. Caleb smiled as he studied the toddler sleeping snuggly in a navy blue sleeping bag with a green dinosaur on it. He held a stuffed monkey in his tiny arms. The little boy’s shaggy blond hair was framing his face. Caleb smiled and gently moved the hair out of his face. At that moment, the child moved and started to stir. Little hazel eyes opened up and the boy released an endearing yawn. Arms stretched over the little boy’s head. “Hey Hunter,” Caleb whispered. 

Hunter slowly focused on Caleb. He slowly got out of the sleeping bag and crawled towards the familiar figure. 

“How was your nap?”

Hunter just mumbled. 

“Good,” Caleb said, unperturbed. “I’m not sure about you Hunter, but I’m hungry. I’m sure something’s being cooked up.” Caleb held a hand out for Hunter, who crawled out of the sleeping bag. Caleb pulled Hunter into his arms and propped the child on his hip. Caleb caught a whiff of a malodourous scent. Caleb held on of his hands on the toddler’s onesie covered bottoms to be sure. “Seems like you need a diaper change first kiddo. Did you make a stinky?”  
Hunter let out a little giggle. 

“Yeah, yeah laugh it up,” Caleb griped, secretly delighted that the boy seemed so happy. “Keep laughing while I have to change a diaper.”

Caleb sat the little boy on the table while Caleb grabbed the diaper bag underneath. Caleb prepped the changing mat on the hard surface before putting the boy on it. Caleb hummed to himself as he quickly worked Hunter out of the yellow onesie he had dressed in, until he was in nothing but his soiled diaper. As Caleb opened the diaper, the scent hit him before the sight did. Caleb was secretly glad that he had already been doing this routine for a while, otherwise he might have thrown up at the sight. Like a pro, Caleb managed to get Hunter out of the diaper and wiped down. “Ready for bath time Hunter?”

“Baf ti,” Hunter said shyly. 

Caleb grinned. “That’s right kid.”

The RV door opened. “Kay where did you go?” Rick’s familiar drawled. Caleb felt the warm presence walk behind him. “Well hello,” Rick said warmly when he noticed the little boy in his brother’s arms. 

Hunter turned his face from the stranger he’d never seen before.

“Hey Hunter,” Caleb moved the little boy closer to the sink. “it’s alright, this my brother Rick, he’s a police officer. You want to say hi?”

“Hello Hunter,” Rick said. “My name is Rick. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice mee’ you,” Hunter said.

Caleb had turned on the faucet and after checking the water, he put the child in. Caleb turned towards Rick. “Can you pass me that diaper bag, please? There should be some supplies in there.”

Rick did as he was instructed. He put the light green bag on the counter next to the sink. Caleb went through the bag, humming in triumph when he found the Johnson’s baby wash in the bag. Rick watched in awe as his little brother tenderly washing this child in the sink. “You’re really good with him.”

Caleb smiled. “Well, I had some pretty good role models,” he boasted. He took the time to look at his brother, taking in all his features, as if he might disappear. “It’s really good to see you.”

Rick gave his brother a head rub. Before the new world, it used to drive Caleb crazy when he did that. Now he found himself leaning into it. Once Caleb was sure that Hunter was sufficiently cleaned, he turned off the water, wrapped the child in a towel. “I missed you too,” Rick said. There had been a time, he came back home that he hadn’t sure he would ever see his family again. Now not only was his family alive, but he found them. It almost seemed too good to be true.

“So… where are Hunter’s parents?”

Caleb stayed silent. The silence said more than any words could. Caleb silently dressed the little boy in whatever clothes he could find- a pair of brown pants, a green T-shirt with Barney on it, a pair of socks and sneakers. The brothers stayed in relative silence, broken occasionally by the sound of Caleb babbling to himself. 

Late that night, the group sat around the fire. While they were sitting together, listening to Rick’s experience from waking up to the End of the World. Caleb sat next to Carl, with Hunter sitting on his legs, feeding a smaller portion of beans to him. While Caleb was interested in the story, he couldn’t stop thinking about the man they had all left behind in Atlanta. 

They left Merle in that clusterfuck, alive, with no way out. It wasn’t right.

Caleb came back to reality just in time to hear Shane speak. “I did everything to get them out of there man.”

Rick smiled. “Thank you for protecting them Shane.”

“What are we going to tell Daryl when he comes back to camp,” Dale said. “Especially since his brother was left behind.”

“Can’t we just lie?” Amy asked nervously.

“We tell him the truth,” Andrea said from her place next to Amy. “Merle put everyone else at risk and only has himself to blame for the fact that he got left behind.” She turned to Lori. “Your husband did the right thing. Merle only has himself to blame for what happened.”

Dale shook his head. “That’s what we tell him? I don’t see a calm conversation coming from that.”

Caleb frowned at Andrea. “Is that what you would want to hear if it were Amy that got left behind?” The rest of the group, looked shocked at what he said.

Andrea frowned. “This has nothing to do with my sister,” she stated furiously. “You were there- Merle was acting crazy. Had your brother not done what he did, who knows how it would have ended for the rest of us.”

Caleb shook his head. “And you think saying something like that to Merle’s little brother is going to be the way to go? I can tell you from experience, that Daryl is not going to want to hear that his brother got left behind. And considering what they do for the group, they deserve way more than that.”

“That’s enough Cay,” Shane reprimanded. 

“Oh, shut up Shane,” Caleb growled.

“Cay.” Caleb could feel Rick’s hand on his shoulder, warning him about his behavior.

Caleb could suddenly hear whimpering, he looked down to see Hunter had tears running down his eyes. Shit, he thought as he comforted the little boy. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, wiping the tears away with a handkerchief. 

“What is your problem?” Amy said, jumping to her sister’s defense.

“My problem is that we left a man, handcuffed to a pipe, on top of a roof with no way to defend himself,” Caleb whispered furiously, mindful of the toddler on his lap. “The summers get really hot in Georgia. So, when the sun’s up, Merle isn’t going to be able to shade himself. He was left with no food or water. And some of you are acting as if it’s not a big deal or like it’s some sort of joke because it only happened to Merle Dixon. I don’t care if he was the meanest sonovabitch on the planet, no one DESERVES that!”  
Caleb left the fire with Hunter and went to his tent. 

T-Dog rubbed his head guiltily. “I dropped the key,” he said. “I dropped it down the drain and ran.”

Andrea rolled her eyes. “We all ran,” she pointed out. “What’s your point?”

“Before I left, I wrapped chains around the door,” T-Dog explained. “The geeks can’t get to him. He’s still alive up there and that’s on us.”

Rick nodded. “I’m going back.”

Lori and Shane looked at the returned man in shock.

“Rick, you just got here,” Lori said. 

“I don’t want you to go,” Carl said, hugging his father. 

“I know Carl,” Rick said, holding his son, kissing his forehead. “I don’t want to either.”

Caleb laid in the tent with a sleepy Hunter. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that Merle got left in Atlanta. It wasn’t right. Unaware of what Rick had said, the young man had already decided that he would be going to Atlanta to save Merle, even if no one else was going.


	3. Chapter 3: Inhales the different dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Rick is away in Atlanta, Caleb is stuck in camp.

Caleb continued to walk the perimeter of camp with some wire and cans. Charlie walked alongside him, sniffing the ground around him. 

“Caleb.” Caleb turned to his sister-in-law, who was frowning at him. “What are you doing?”

Caleb continued walking. “I’m walking around with Charlie and setting up these cans as an alarm, in case more walkers come.”

Lori followed him. “You’re gonna make people panic.”

Caleb stopped and wrapped some of the wires around the area surrounding the camp. As he hung them up, the cans could be heard clanking together. “Honestly people should be panicking; a Walker came too close to our camp and to the kids,” Caleb pointed out. “If even one of those Geeks could come that close, then a group of them could be on their way.”

Lori walked in front of him, impeding his progress. “People need some stability right now. If you really want to help this group, maybe you can help with some of these chores around camp.”

Caleb tried very hard not to glare at his sister-in-law. “A Walker could have killed Carl, and you’re worried about chores?” He asked, voice raising, “Seriously Lori? Do you understand why I’m setting up these things?”

Lori sighed and gave him a stern glance. “Caleb don’t take that tone with me,” she stated.

Caleb took a few calming breaths. “I’m sorry,” he said. Caleb truly was. Lori was not only his brother’s wife; she had become something of a second mother to him. “I’m just trying to protect everyone the best way I know how. At least if these are set up around camp, we may get some warning if anymore Walkers come our way. The quarry isn’t safe anymore and it’s time we face that.”

Lori sighed. As much as she didn’t want to think about it, she knew that Caleb was right. “You’re right,” Lori said resigned. “I guess precautions are needed.”

Time to press his luck, Caleb thought. “I’m glad you think that,” he said, “because I think you should start carrying one of the guns that was in the house’s gun safe.”

“Caleb-.”

“I just want you and Carl safe,” Caleb quickly said. “I would rather you carry a weapon without having to use it then you actually needing it and not have it on you. Please.”

Lori sighed again. “Alright.” Lori sighed. “If it’s that important to you, I will grab the gun.”  
Caleb nodded. “I will help out around camp after that.”

Lori nodded absently. “I know you wanted to go with Rick back in Atlanta, but I’m glad that you’re here with Carl and me. I’m not sure I could handle it if you were in that city after what happened yesterday.”

Caleb nodded absently. He had been a little upset that Rick refused to let him come with them in Atlanta. He still remembered the conversation they had earlier.

“I know the city almost as well as Glenn does now,” Caleb had argued.

Rick shook his head. “I need you here.”

Frustration made Caleb’s throat tighten. “I can help.”

“I know you can,” Rick stated gently. “I spoke to Glenn. He told me that you have been out in the city scavenging alongside him. I know you’re capable.”

“Then why-?”

“You heard what Shane said,” Rick pointed out. “He thinks us going back into the city to look for Merle is a waste of time. Now I don’t agree with him on that at all; but I do agree that, after what happened, the group can’t afford for all the fighters to be away to be away from camp.” 

Caleb at least felt appeased that Rick didn’t seem to be treating him like a little kid, but there was something else still nagging on him. “Then why not ask Glenn or T-Dog to stay?”

“Well T-Dog feels guilty for dropping the handcuff keys and insisted that he come,” Rick stated, “And… I asked Glenn to come along for a more selfish reason. I wanted you to stay in camp to protect Lori, Carl and Hunter. I know that you won’t let anything happen to our family.”

Hearing Rick say that- even going as far as to include Hunter as part of our family, did make Hunter feel… he wasn’t sure he had the words for what he was feeling, but it was… pleasant.

Cackling could be heard as the baby monitor on his hip came to life. Small mewls could be heard from the other end, signaling that Hunter had just woken up. Caleb wrapped the rest of the last of the cans around the camp and begin the rest of his day.

Caleb walked towards the lake with a plastic bag in one hand and Hunter’s hand in the other. He could see Carol, Jacqui, Andrea and Amy working on their own washing. 

“Good morning ladies,” he said in greeting. Caleb received various greetings from the woman washing clothes, though he did note that the greeting from Andrea seemed a little cooler. Caleb mentally shrugged. It was fine with him. He made grabbed a blanket from the bag and set it on the ground with some toys to keep Hunter occupied. It wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t want to just dump Hunter on Lori again. The little boy was his responsibility. 

Caleb started washing some of Hunter’s little onesies. God he never realized how quickly kids go through clothes. Everyone worked peacefully for a little while. “So how are you ladies doing today?”

Carol gave a wane smile. “Doing pretty well,” she stated.

“Can’t really complain,” Jacqui said. “We were just talking about what we missed from before.” 

“I miss Manic Panic hair dye,” Caleb quipped, gesturing to his purple hair. The comment earned a few giggles.

“Stop your yapping and get back to work,” a deep voice said. Caleb turned and noticed Carol’s husband, Ed sat in a chair nearby, watching them work.

“Why don’t you get off your ass and help,” Andrea quipped, throwing some pants back at Ed. The man threw them forcefully back in her face.

“It ain’t my job,” Ed said.

“Then what the hell is your job Ed?” Caleb asked, “’Cause so far, I haven’t seen you do anything else but sit your ass down and watch us do laundry.” 

“It’s not listening to some uppity bitch and brat,” Ed yelled. The man waved towards Carol, “Let’s go.”

The older woman meekly walked out of water and towards her husband.

Caleb put a hand on her shoulder. “Carol you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“Mind your damn business,” Ed groused. 

“Everyone please, stop it,” Carol pleaded, walking closer to Ed. 

Andrea also tried to stop the older woman. “You don’t have to go with him.”

“It’s alright,” Carols stated.

“Don’t think I won’t knock you on your ass,” Ed threatened, getting in Andrea’s face.

Caleb got up in Ed’s face. “What the hell did you say?” He yelled.

Ed looked towards Carol. “Get over here!” Carol walked towards her husband. When she was close enough, Ed slapped her so hard in the face, she would have lost her balance had Caleb not caught her. Before anyone else could react, Ed was knocked on his fat ass by a blur of fists hitting him in the face. It was Shane; he kept hitting Ed. Great.

Caleb became more concerned when Shane still hadn’t stopped a few seconds later. “Shane that’s enough,” Caleb yelled, walking towards the former police officer on top of the woman beater. “Stop Shane-!” A sharp pain developed on his nose before he was pushed into the water. When he resurfaced, it was to a kaleidoscope of noise. The women were all yelling and screaming, Hunter was crying from his spot near the water and Shane was in his own little world, beating the life out of Ed.

“Oh my God!” Amy helped him stand in the water. “Are you okay?” Caleb rubbed his face to get the water off. “Oh god, you're bleeding!” Caleb touched his wet face with his fingers; they were pink when he looked at them. Amy attempted to wipe Caleb’s face with a rag, but Caleb brushed her off, and quickly grabbed the crying toddler left on the ground and walked back to his tent to comfort Hunter and clean up the mess on his face. 

Caleb sat in front of the campfire with Hunter on his lap. Carl was sitting on his left, with his Lori sitting next to Carl around the Campfire. Charlie was laying down next to Caleb’s right side, nosing and licking at Hunter’s face, causing the younger boy to giggle. Fish fry was being passed around by everyone in the group. Everyone eagerly thanked Amy and Andrea for catching it.  
“You have just kept my family fed tonight,” Morales had said.

All except one.

Call it petty or ridiculous, but the whole thing actually irritated Caleb. The teenage boy couldn’t help but think that it was funny how Daryl and Merle went out, hunted animals for meat and shared with the group to eat, every day and NEVER get a thanks from the likes of Morales or really anyone else in this group really… but Andrea and Amy, who have NEVER went fishing in all the time this group had been in the quarry, do it ONE damn time… and all of a sudden they are getting thanked. 

Caleb wasn’t blind; he knew that the Dixons- mostly Merle. Daryl tends to silently follow his older brother- could be difficult. Merle habitually made rude comments, just to get under everyone’s skin. But for all the racist, sexist comments Merle has made, for all the drug use around camp, and his overall belligerent behavior, no one in this damn camp ever seems to be angry enough to send the Dixons on their way. People are offended and didn’t seem to like the Dixons… but no was ever offended enough to tell them to keep their damn squirrels and take a hike.

But the answer is obvious. As much as none of the adults here wanted to admit it, the Dixons had skills that the group NEEDED. Most of them couldn’t even handle a weapon, let alone provide for themselves. And as much as they looked down on the brothers, they would NEVER actually kick them out. But if something were to happen on a scavenging trip…

Okay now I’m going off the reservation, Caleb thought with a snort. He absently wiped Hunter’s face after feeding him a little piece of fish. 

But still, a tiny voice asked, what really was the point for such a group to go scavenging? Why would anyone think putting a group that consists with Morales, T-Dog and the others… with Merle? That Is a recipe for disaster. Maybe Shane wanted more people to do more within the group? That would make sense. Besides chores around camp (which seems like some weird old-fashioned setup. Seriously why are the women the only ones doing the laundry, cooking and cleaning?)

But that doesn’t explain why the group was allowed to get that big. And why was Merle even ALLOWED to volunteer. Shane seemed pretty eager about that. Almost like-

A scream snapped Caleb out of his reverie. Caleb stared, stupefied as Amy got her arm chomped on by a Walker. Amy continued to scream as another Walker came and bit her on the shoulder. Andrea cried in anguish as her sister was ripped apart by the dead. 

Just like that, the trance was broken. Caleb took his gun out of his holster and grabbed Hunter up in his other arm. “Get the kids in the RV!” He yelled. “He started shooting the closest Walker in his way. Then the next. It was all a chaotic symphony of growls and screams. Caleb managed to shoot another that was getting too close to Sophia and Carol. “To the RV!” He yelled, handing Hunter to the older woman. Caleb continued to shoot and lead the way towards the RV and opened the door, quickly ushering the three inside before closing the door. He had to find the rest of his family.

“Caleb!” The teen turned to see Lori, holding Carl standing slightly behind Shane who shock Walkers with the shotgun. Charlie mauled one of the dead who got too close. “Go to the RV!” Caleb ran towards them, shooting with his gun; one after the other. Shane took out quite a few with his own shotgun, making a pathway for mother and son to run to salvation. The walkers kept coming; it felt like the invasion would never end. Caleb began to panic when the clip went empty. He quickly began to reload when a few Walkers walked in front them. Caleb stood in front of his nephew, futilely holding his arm up in front of him. He watched as one of the Walkers made to take a chomp out of his arm, before it had its head blown away. More gunshots could be heard. 

Rick grabbed his arm. “Caleb, get them to the RV!” He yelled. Caleb gave a brief nod before herding Lori and Carl to the rest the RV. Once they were safely inside, he quickly reloaded his weapon and exited the vehicle to continue to fight for his survival.

After what seemed like an eternity, the last Walker dropped down, finally dead. Although, Caleb and his family were still standing, it didn’t feel like a victory. Not when Andrea continued to cradle Amy’s dead body in her arms. Not when the lively faces he had gotten used to seeing in camp for two months were dead on the ground or completely eviscerated. While he studied the scene around him, Caleb couldn’t help but to fear what would come next.

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: I am leaving the chapter at this because anyone who watched the Walking Dead certainly knows what happened at this point. I really do not want to waste writing all of that. I hope this was good enough to introduce my own OC and go from there.


End file.
